Work on the Grand Parkway has caused headaches for motorists along Riley Fuzzel Road near the intersection of Rayford Road with ongoing lane closures, confusing signs, poorly timed signals and dozens of large construction vehicles on the roads. less

Work on the Grand Parkway has caused headaches for motorists along Riley Fuzzel Road near the intersection of Rayford Road with ongoing lane closures, confusing signs, poorly timed signals and dozens of large ... more

Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff

Image 2 of 4

Traffic lines up along Riley Fuzzel near the insection of Rayford where the Grand Parkway is under construction shown Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Spring. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle )

Traffic lines up along Riley Fuzzel near the insection of Rayford where the Grand Parkway is under construction shown Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Spring. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle )

Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff

Image 3 of 4

Traffic lines up along Rayford near the insection of Riley Fuzzel where the Grand Parkway is under construction shown Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Spring. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle )

Traffic lines up along Rayford near the insection of Riley Fuzzel where the Grand Parkway is under construction shown Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Spring. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle )

Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff

Image 4 of 4

South County motorists are weary of gridlock as Grand Parkway construction moves forward

1 / 4

Back to Gallery

After months of paralyzing gridlock in the area of Riley Fuzzel and Rayford Roads due to construction on the Grand Parkway, area officials are hopeful that conditions will improve after the contractor opened a portion of the eastbound feeder road Monday.

The new traffic configuration set in place by the contractor will eliminate the signal and crossover at the Fox Run and Discovery Creek intersection and allow eastbound traffic a permanent U-turn at Rayford Road, while maintaining the dedicated left turn lane and the straight/right turn lane. This traffic flow is scheduled to stay in place for six to eight weeks as crews work toward opening the westbound feeder road. Officials hope that this change will help alleviate major traffic headaches.

Over the past few months, residents and workers who drive through the area where Riley Fuzzel Road meets Birnham Woods Drive and Rayford Road have complained of lane closures, confusing signs, poorly timed signals and dozens of large construction vehicles using the roads, causing major delays, particularly during peak hours.

"Something that should take a minute takes 15-20," said Milton Gibson, who works at an office on Riley Fuzzel Road in the thick of the construction. "It is a pain."

"It's horrible," said Teresa Valadez, a resident who shops at the H-E-B at the corner of Rayford Road and Riley Fuzzel Road, one of the intersections that has seen the most trouble, according to residents. "I don't know which way to go. The signs are confusing ... It's a headache."

Valadez said she and her family have learned to avoid the area altogether and take alternate roads when they can.

Ryan Graham, who lives and works in the area of the construction, has found it difficult to get around the delays.

"Usually ... at most of the construction sites ... there's some way for people to get through - a detour or something - but they've had construction on both major roads. There's no way in or out," Graham said.

In late August, Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack released a letter that he sent to Tryon Lewis, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, requesting that he take immediate action to improve the mobility in the area, which Noack called "a hazardous situation" and "like nothing I have ever witnessed."

Noack cited vehicle collisions, impeding emergency vehicles and negative effects on property values as his top concerns if the gridlock problems persist in the area.

Noack's office has received about 500 complaints about the traffic caused by the Grand Parkway construction along Riley Fuzzel Road.

"We've gotten handwritten letters, phone calls, people who show up at our office, people who call the police," said Matt Beasley, project manager for Precinct 3. He added that his office has seen many complaints on social media and heard of accidents and flat tires from the construction sites.

Shamiso Maosa, who works at a store near the Rayford Road and Riley Fuzzel Road intersection, said that she's heard customers complain of it taking 30 minutes to an hour to bypass the construction.

"I think people are frustrated," she said.

Noack suspects that Zachry-Odebrecht Parkway Builders, the contractor working on the three segments of the Grand Parkway that will connect the tollway from U.S. 290 in northwestern Harris County to U.S. 59 north of Kingwood, might be skimping on efforts to improve safety conditions on the roads in the construction zones in its rush to complete the project by the end of the year deadline.

Lewis responded to Noack's letter saying that the Texas Department of Transportation had increased oversight in the area and planned to step up public messaging to better inform the residents of traffic changes.

"I share your concerns and have conveyed to Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) staff that this situation needs to be alleviated as soon as possible," Lewis said in the Sept. 1 letter to Noack. "The safety of the motoring public, as well as the safety of our employees and contractors in the field, is our highest priority."

The complaints surrounding the parkway construction along Riley Fuzzel Road are not the first to arise over the $1.1 billion, 38-mile leg of the toll road cutting through south Montgomery County and northwest Harris County.

Earlier this year, residents of the Mossy Oaks subdivision just west of the new Exxon Mobil Corp. campus in Spring protested when the construction on the elevated, concrete tollway cut through neighborhoods, creating a level of noise just below justifying a sound wall, according to officials.

Transportation planners hope that the opening of the new segments of the Grand Parkway will help relieve congestion and divert traffic off of Interstate 45 in the rapidly growing north Harris and south Montgomery counties.

The contractor expects to complete construction on the segments from U.S. 290 to U.S. 59 by December.